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Zuckerberg: These Internet Services Should Be Free For Everyone

Mark Zuckerberg has big plans for the future of the Internet, and the old-fashioned dial tone has a role to play — at least metaphorically.

In an interview with Wired published Monday, the Facebook CEO talked at length about his newest project, Internet.org, a non-profit whose mission is to bring Internet access to everyone on the planet. Even with partners like Nokia, Samsung and Qualcomm as part of the team, however, the goal is a lofty one; but Zuckerberg has a vision for what he wants — at least to start.

It seems that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs even applies to Internet services, and before users need access to Netflix or their fantasy football rosters, they need what Zuckerberg is calling “the dial tone for the Internet.”

Zuckerberg envisions a set of services, including “messages, Wikipedia, search engines, social networks, weather access and commodities prices,” that should be readily available to everyone, much like the dial tone you got when you still owned a landline. This list of services is not all-encompassing, but it does establish a gateway for bringing full Internet access to everyone, he said.

Zuckerberg: These Internet Services Should Be Free For Everyone

Of course, nothing is actually free — not even a dial tone. (A sales rep from AT&T told Mashablethat you don’t actually get a dial tone without purchasing at least a basic phone-service plan.) That means someone needs to foot the bill for the most basic of Internet services; but Zuckerberg has an idea for that, as well.

“The thing that’s valuable about social networks and messaging and search engines is that they’re portals to more content,” he told Wired. “By making basic access to those things free, people would actually end up discovering more content on a sustainable basis, then accessing and using more data than they would otherwise. It would end up being a very profitable model for carriers. Operators will make more money from the new people who can pay than it will cost them [to] offer the free services.”

Zuckerberg’s “dial tone” is a small part of a much larger goal he hopes to achieve, but there’s something to be said about breaking down the barriers to entry when it comes to Internet access.

“The story of the next century is the transition from an industrial, resource-based economy, to a knowledge economy,” Zuckerberg said. “You solve that by getting everyone online.”

Can you think of other Internet services that should be free to everyone? Tell us in the comments, below.